Public Act 094-0030
 
SB1637 Enrolled SRS094 00007 JEJ 30007 b

    AN ACT concerning elections.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing Section
28-2 as follows:
 
    (10 ILCS 5/28-2)  (from Ch. 46, par. 28-2)
    Sec. 28-2. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this
Section, petitions for the submission of public questions to
referendum must be filed with the appropriate officer or board
not less than 78 days prior to a regular election to be
eligible for submission on the ballot at such election; and
petitions for the submission of a question under Section 18-120
of the Property Tax Code must be filed with the appropriate
officer or board not more than 10 months nor less than 6 months
prior to the election at which such question is to be submitted
to the voters.
    (b) However, petitions for the submission of a public
question to referendum which proposes the creation or formation
of a political subdivision must be filed with the appropriate
officer or board not less than 108 days prior to a regular
election to be eligible for submission on the ballot at such
election.
    (c) Resolutions or ordinances of governing boards of
political subdivisions which initiate the submission of public
questions pursuant to law must be adopted not less than 65 days
before a regularly scheduled election to be eligible for
submission on the ballot at such election.
    (d) A petition, resolution or ordinance initiating the
submission of a public question may specify a regular election
at which the question is to be submitted, and must so specify
if the statute authorizing the public question requires
submission at a particular election. However, no petition,
resolution or ordinance initiating the submission of a public
question, other than a legislative resolution initiating an
amendment to the Constitution, may specify such submission at
an election more than one year after the date on which it is
filed or adopted, as the case may be. A petition, resolution or
ordinance initiating a public question which specifies a
particular election at which the question is to be submitted
shall be so limited, and shall not be valid as to any other
election, other than an emergency referendum ordered pursuant
to Section 2A-1.4.
    (e) If a petition initiating a public question does not
specify a regularly scheduled election, the public question
shall be submitted to referendum at the next regular election
occurring not less than 78 days after the filing of the
petition, or not less than 108 days after the filing of a
petition for referendum to create a political subdivision. If a
resolution or ordinance initiating a public question does not
specify a regularly scheduled election, the public question
shall be submitted to referendum at the next regular election
occurring not less than 65 days after the adoption of the
resolution or ordinance.
    (f) In the case of back door referenda, any limitations in
another statute authorizing such a referendum which restrict
the time in which the initiating petition may be validly filed
shall apply to such petition, in addition to the filing
deadlines specified in this Section for submission at a
particular election. In the case of any back door referendum,
the publication of the ordinance or resolution of the political
subdivision shall include a notice of (1) the specific number
of voters required to sign a petition requesting that a public
question be submitted to the voters of the subdivision; (2) the
time within which the petition must be filed; and (3) the date
of the prospective referendum. The secretary or clerk of the
political subdivision shall provide a petition form to any
individual requesting one. The legal sufficiency of that form,
if provided by the secretary or clerk of the political
subdivision, cannot be the basis of a challenge to placing the
back door referendum on the ballot. As used herein, a "back
door referendum" is the submission of a public question to the
voters of a political subdivision, initiated by a petition of
voters or residents of such political subdivision, to determine
whether an action by the governing body of such subdivision
shall be adopted or rejected.
    (g) A petition for the incorporation or formation of a new
political subdivision whose officers are to be elected rather
than appointed must have attached to it an affidavit attesting
that at least 108 days and no more than 138 days prior to such
election notice of intention to file such petition was
published in a newspaper published within the proposed
political subdivision, or if none, in a newspaper of general
circulation within the territory of the proposed political
subdivision in substantially the following form:
NOTICE OF PETITION TO FORM A NEW........
    Residents of the territory described below are notified
that a petition will or has been filed in the Office
of............requesting a referendum to establish a
new........, to be called the............
    *The officers of the new...........will be elected on the
same day as the referendum. Candidates for the governing board
of the new......may file nominating petitions with the officer
named above until...........
    The territory proposed to comprise the new........is
described as follows:
        (description of territory included in petition)
        (signature)....................................
        Name and address of person or persons proposing
        the new political subdivision.
    * Where applicable.
    Failure to file such affidavit, or failure to publish the
required notice with the correct information contained therein
shall render the petition, and any referendum held pursuant to
such petition, null and void.
    Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this
subsection (g) or any other provisions of this Code, the
publication of notice and affidavit requirements of this
subsection (g) shall not apply to any petition filed under
Article 7, 7A, 11A, 11B, or 11D of the School Code nor to any
referendum held pursuant to any such petition, and neither any
petition filed under any of those Articles nor any referendum
held pursuant to any such petition shall be rendered null and
void because of the failure to file an affidavit or publish a
notice with respect to the petition or referendum as required
under this subsection (g) for petitions that are not filed
under any of those Articles of the School Code.
(Source: P.A. 90-459, eff. 8-17-97.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.